Which country has Ottawa as its capital city?

Canada’s capital city is Ottawa.

Ottawa stands in southern Ontario at the confluence of the Ottawa and Rideau rivers, directly across the Ottawa River from Gatineau, Quebec. It is the political centre of the country and contains Parliament Hill, the Supreme Court of Canada, federal departments, and many foreign embassies.

The settlement began as Bytown in 1826 during construction of the Rideau Canal, a defensive waterway planned after the War of 1812. Bytown was renamed Ottawa in 1855. Queen Victoria selected Ottawa as the capital in 1857, before Canadian Confederation in 1867.

Ottawa was a compromise choice. Its location between Canada West and Canada East helped balance English- and French-speaking interests, while its distance from the United States was considered strategically defensible. The city’s name comes from the Algonquin word adawe, meaning “to trade.” A frequent mix-up is Toronto: Toronto is Ontario’s capital and Canada’s largest city, but Ottawa is the national capital.